In the wake of Gov. Phil Murphy’s recent Budget Address and its proposed new Corporate Transit Fee, which has strained ties between the governor and many in the business community, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) launched a new campaign to promote better business policy.

According to the NJBIA, the “Do Better for Business” awareness video campaign released Wednesday aims to hold lawmakers and state leaders accountable for policies that harm New Jersey businesses. At the same time, it hopes to bring more concise visibility to anti-business policies that require change.

“While the bad form of Gov. Murphy’s sudden and costly reversal on taxing New Jersey’s largest job providers is the latest impetus for this effort, it is sadly not the only one,” said NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka. “The governor and certain lawmakers often talk about their support of New Jersey businesses, but unfortunately their actions don’t follow their words, or their words don’t tell the full story. Frankly, we don’t believe they prioritize the importance of our job creators nearly enough, which is why New Jersey has the business reputation that it does.”

As NJBIZ reported, the CTF led to immediate backlash from business leaders. That came just months after the hard-fought sunset of the corporate business tax (CBT) surcharge and weeks after Murphy said he saw no tie between that surtax and transit funding. However, during his Budget Address, he introduced this new proposal – to the dismay of the business community – to bridge NJ Transit’s impending fiscal cliff while also establishing a dedicated funding source.

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“We will raise this revenue without placing any new burdens on small- and medium-sized businesses,” said Murphy during his speech. “In fact, nearly 2,500 companies will see their taxes decrease from last year. And let me take this opportunity to thank, in advance, the big companies which will be stepping up. Many of them have partnered with our administration since day one – and they have been essential in getting our economy back on its feet post-pandemic.”

Following the speech and the fallout, Murphy defended the budget plan.

“I’m proud of the budget. It’s the beginning of a process that will culminate in June,” Murphy said during his recent television call-in show. “And I think New Jersey does that budget process as well as any state in America. And I’m looking forward to the next several months.”

NJBIA says that as part of this campaign, throughout the FY 2025 budget season, it will roll out short-form, explainer videos and factoids on social media to show where policymakers are harming Garden State businesses. Or, where they are not providing full context for what they deem as business successes.

To kick off the campaign, NJBIA launched three video episodes:

• “Tax Relief” in the Form of Tax Increases (which you can play below)
• Fostering an Anti-Business Culture in NJ through Mistrust
• How the Little Pieces Impact the Big Picture for NJ Businesses

You can check out more videos and get more campaign details here.

Raising awareness

“We know there is great support and genuine appreciation of our businesses, small and large, amongst the public,” said Siekerka. “So, the goal of this campaign is to bring them more public support and greater awareness to our business challenges, in a more palatable form, to effect meaningful change.”

NJBIA also plans to provide comments and unfiltered feelings from business owners about the current climate under the current leadership.

Siekerka says her organization looks forward to bringing more awareness to the plight and challenges facing Garden State business owners – and which policies impact them the most.

“These are the boots on the ground, from New Jersey companies of all sizes, who have to deal directly with the costliest taxes and regulatory burdens in the nation,” said Siekerka. “Our policymakers need to be held to account for the burdens being placed on them on all-too-regular basis.”